Today, the 26th June 2021 is Armed Forces Day. An opportunity for us as a company to show our support to the Armed Forces and our appreciation to our former military personnel.
What is Armed Forces Day?
The purpose of the day is to support the men and women who make up the Armed Forces, those currently in service, service families, Veterans and Cadets.
The public show their support for the Armed Forces on Armed Forces Day, but it doesn’t end there. Armed Forces personnel past and present are supported by the Government, businesses and communities throughout the year under the Armed Forces Covenant; a promise by the nation to support those who serve, have served and their families. With an estimated 2.6 million military Veterans in the UK, 900,000 of which are estimated to be of working age it is important that businesses recognise and harness the transferable skills that Veterans have to offer by opening up the employment opportunities and broadening their hiring parameters to accommodate applications from ex-service personnel.
Forsberg are proud signatories of the Armed Forces Covenant and have a number of former military personnel in key Sales, Technical, and Management roles within the company who have played or still play an active role within the Military. To celebrate Armed Forces Day, we thought we’d highlight one of our military veterans Matt Gore to reminisce over his time spent in the Armed Forces and his commitment to serving our country.
From Technical Quarter Master Sergeant to Forsberg’s Technical Project Manager
Matt joined the Army when he left school in 2009. He had no interest in going on to higher education at the time and with a few friends in the forces already, he decided to sign up. With some interest in engineering, he pursued roles within the corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME).
Matt began his Military career as an Electronics Technician in Reading, working on land and air equipment before re-training to the role of Technical Support Specialist (TSS). TSS are responsible for the storage and upkeep of technical equipment and real estate within their regiments as well as training other REME tradesmen in military skills such as first aid and weapon handling.
His first role was running an expense store in the Quarter Masters Department before being promoted to Lance Corporal and posted to another unit. He gained an array of instructional qualifications whilst serving such as Battlefield Casualty Drills Instructor, Skill at Arms Instructor, Range Conducting Officer Qualifications and Drill Instructor, which lead to him being placed in the Regimental Training Wing as the Training Corporal. His responsibilities included training and testing other troops within the regiment to ensure they were current in their mandatory military skills as well as running promotion courses for junior non-commissioned officers. Matt served in this role for a few years before being once again promoted and given a new posting to Technical Quarter Master Sergeant where Matt was given his own storehouse, technical accounts and a team to manage.
In 2019, a long-term back injury caused Matt to have to leave the Army. He spent his resettlement period gaining qualifications to pursue a career in project management before taking on his current role as Technical Project Manager at Forsberg.
‘The position at Forsberg was a perfect fit for me. Forsberg’s ties to the defence community really appealed to me, still allowing me to work with the military and contribute to their capabilities. It allows me to utilise the technical expertise and management skills I gained whilst in the forces whilst the support and mentoring I have received whilst working at Forsberg has really helped me to develop and adjust to civilian life. I am on the verge of completing a Business Management Degree which wouldn’t have been possible without Forsberg’s support.’
‘I will always be proud to say I served. I built lifelong friendships and experienced things that most will never get the chance to. My time in the Army taught me discipline and built my confidence as well as my organisational and leadership skills. The Forces have set me up with the skills to succeed in the commercial world’
Matt Gore, Technical Project Manager, Forsberg Services Ltd.
